


Investigating Apple Juice

by jyuzo



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: M/M, More characters to come, Some bad language, incase anyone's offended by it, probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-03
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-02-19 18:16:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 7,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2398100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jyuzo/pseuds/jyuzo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The CCG get a tip-off about suspicious activity in a nearby café. Juuzou and Amon investigate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting

“So, this is our first proper assignment together, right?” he asked excitedly.

“Yes, Suzuya, for the hundredth time, now get in.” Amon replied.

The young man bounded ahead and into the small café. Honestly, he looked as though he was 12, but he was, as loath as Amon was to admit it, a fully qualified ghoul investigator.  
The café was small and cosy looking, nothing at all suspicious from the outside, but an anonymous tip-off had sparked an interest with the CCG. Amon followed his subordinate into the shop.

“Hello, and welcome to Anteiku!” A young man with dark hair stood behind the counter, smiling cheerily. “How can I help you today?”

“Could I have a –“Amon started, but was cut off. “Do you have apple juice?” Suzuya leapt up from beside Amon’s side. The man behind the counter just smiled and nodded. “I’m Juuzou! Nice to meet you!”

“Hi, I’m Kaneki.” Kaneki set to work preparing the machine for juicing. Another man came to the counter to serve Amon. 

“And can I help you?” the man asked. He was rather tall with red hair and spoke in a bored tone. 

“A tea, please?”

“Right away.”

With both customers served, they sat down at a table near to the door. “So, what do you think?”

Suzuya took a large slurp of his juice. “I think this is delicious. “ He drank again. “Compliments to the chef!” he called loudly, causing a snort from behind the counter.

“Juuzou, we’re meant to be inconspicuous.” Amon hissed. He sipped his tea, wincing slightly at the heat from it.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t have fun! Or enjoy this drink. God, this is good!” Suzuya took another large gulp and finished his drink.

“We are on duty, you know that.” Amon continued, though with less venom than before.

“Well, as for your previous question, everything seems fine in the café, but I’m getting a weird feeling from the people.”

“Huh, how come?”

“Well-“Juuzou started, rather loudly.

“We’ll continue this outside, shall we?”

Suzuya grumbled under his breath a little, but got up nonetheless. He looked over to the counter where only the dark haired waiter stood. “See you later! Wow, you have really cool eyes. Er, eye.” Suzuya called out to the man.

Kaneki blushed from where he stood, watching as the odd pair went out through the door. “Goodbye and thank you!” he called after them.  
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………  
“Juuzou, we’re meant to be investigating, not flirting with waiters.” Amon scolded.

“I wasn’t flirting. But his eye was cool. And what’s with the eye patch? Who even wears an eye patch nowadays?”

“How am I supposed to know? Maybe he had an accident or something.” Amon said. “Anyway, what were you saying about the people in there?”

Suzuya looked up. “Hmm, well, there was a funny smell in there, and that tall guy was acting weird. Do you think they know we’re CCG?”

“Funny smell?”

“It just smelled off. I don’t know why. And there weren’t any other customers. Though that could just be down to the location.”

“We can return tomor-“Amon said, but was cut off.

“More apple juice! And we can see that guy again. Kanke, was it? Or Kaneki? I’ll ask again!”

“Okay, but we need to head back to the office now; the paperwork won’t fill itself in.”


	2. Greeting

“Good morning!” Suzuya shouted cheerfully. 

“How the hell did you get into my house?” Amon asked, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. Suzuya was sitting at the end of his bed.

The small boy only smiled gleefully at that.

“Actually, don’t answer that question. What are you doing here anyway?”

“We’ve got work to do. And Anteiku opens up in,” He pulled a watch out of his pocket and squinted at it. “Nineteen minutes.”

“For fuck’s sake.” Amon muttered darkly.

“LANGUAGE!” Suzuya reprimanded, probably so loudly that he would be getting angry phone calls from his neighbours. His neighbours did love to complain, and no, they couldn’t just walk the five metres from their homes to his door, they had to phone. The ringing always annoyed him to no end.

“Okay, just let me get showered. And dressed.” 

Juuzou nodded, but made no move to leave the room.

“You’re not watching me get dressed.” 

Suzuya pouted. “But everyone’s seen me naked.”

“Nobody wanted to.” Amon shuddered. The day when Suzuya had been determined not to get his injections and had stripped himself of his clothes had been a particularly awful day in CCG history.

Suzuya grinned at the comment.

“You ran through the building. Naked.” Amon said. “Now get out!”  
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

“Nice to see you again.” Kaneki greeted the pair as they came back into the café.

“You’re serving again! Can I have apple juice again? Please?”

Kaneki giggled a little, a very unmanly thing to do, but, to be honest, he didn’t really care. He turned to the older man. “And a tea again?”

“Yeah, thanks.” 

“I never caught your name yesterday. I remember yours – Juuzou, right?”

“Yup!”

“Sorry, I never told you mine. I’m Amon.” Amon stuck out his hand, being as formal as ever. Kaneki turned around from the drinks machine and almost got hit by the hand.

“Sorry!” he said, only managing to save the tea he was holding from sloshing all over the place from an awful lot of practise. He put the tea down and accepted the hand.

“You’re improving. With tea making. Not your social skills.” A voice from the back of the café said.

Kaneki turned around. “Oh, hey Touka! Come and meet these people!”

A girl who looked to be in her late teens emerged from the door. She had very short hair, which looked to be purple, but Juuzou couldn’t tell. He’d never been all that great at distinguishing different colours.

“Yes, hello. Now Kaneki, can you get the tea to the table without spilling it?” she asked. 

Kaneki handed a cup to Juuzou and went to pick up the tea again. “Yes, of course I can.” He said proudly. “Now, where do you want to sit?”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The two ghoul investigators had chosen seats near to the window. They still had a clear view of the workers, and they were out of earshot.

“Are we going to keep doing this?” Suzuya asked, looking strangely serious for a moment.

“Until we see something. Or get a new case.” Amon whispered.

Suzuya seemed to turn his words over in his mind. “Well then, I’m going to get a cake. Do you want something?”

Amon shook his head and watched the younger boy make his way up to the counter.

“Hi, can I have one of those cakes please?” he asked, smiling.

“Uh, sure. Which one?” Kaneki asked, pointing to a large tray of multi-coloured cakes.

“The one with the red on it. I like red.” He said. Juuzou watched as Kaneki picked up his cake. “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to your eye?”

Kaneki froze for a moment, and that was when Touka made reappearance. “That’s none of your business. He’s very sensitive about it and you’re just some stranger.” She glared at Suzuya,

“Oh no, thanks Touka, but it’s alright. I was in an accident and my eye got so badly damaged that it just doesn’t work anymore.”

“Sorry” Suzuya said, sounding genuinely sincere for once. 

“It’s okay. I guess I would be kinda curious if I saw someone with an eye patch on.” Kaneki said, his usual cheerfulness returning. “Here you go!” he handed the cake over.

Juuzou fished some money out of his pocket and put it on the counter. “Thanks!” And he went back to join Amon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yoooo. Another chapter up!


	3. Bad attempts at investigating

For Juuzou, the day started off with him waking up on his couch, looking out through his window and admiring the view of the city. He had a perfectly functional bed in his room, but had always preferred to sleep on the couch. He had always done it that way, and it had never really occurred to him to change his routine.

As he was debating the pros and cons of actually getting up, his mobile phone rang, disturbing the peaceful silence. He looked at it for a moment before picking it up and holding it to his ear with two fingers.

“Juuzou, we may have a lead,” a voice said on the other end of the line. “Another agent was tailing a ghoul last night and what appeared to be her wig slipped down during a chase. The ghoul known as ‘Rabbit’ appears to have short purple hair. Sound familiar?”

“Huh, Amon, it’s early.” Suzuya moaned, not fully listening to what was being said.

“Consider it payback for yesterday. Anyway, did you hear any of what I just said?”

Something suddenly clicked in Suzuya’s mind. “That girl from Anteiku! Whatever her name was!” Juuzou was up and out of his makeshift bed in a flash. “We need to go!”

“Meet me at the tree outside of the café then. In five minutes.”

Juuzou didn’t even bother to reply, just hung up and collected his slippers from their place by the door. “Time to go!” he sang merrily.  
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“So, what do we do?” Juuzou asked, looking up at the taller investigator.

“We play it cool. Get something to drink as usual. And besides, we have no real proof yet, and even if she was the ghoul, she could be the only one here.”

They walked in through the door together, Juuzou slightly ahead of Amon. “Ah, back again?” Kaneki asked cheerfully. “Let me guess, apple juice? And tea?” He smiled brightly at the investigators.

“Sure thing, can I have a straw today though?” Suzuya asked.

Kaneki just nodded and went about preparing the drinks. “So, this will probably seem really nosy, but are you two dating or something?” he asked while he worked.

Amon flushed slightly, but pushed it away. “No, we-“

“No way, he’s like, 50 years old or something. We just work together, that’s all!”

Kaneki hummed slightly in acknowledgement. “You two just seem really close. Sorry, please don’t be offended!” He seemed flustered towards the end of the sentence.

“Oh no, it’s fine.” Amon assured.

Kaneki turned back around from the drinks machine, holding out a cup, complete with straw, and a mug of tea, as per usual. “Enjoy!”

The two investigators sat at a table, closer to the counter than usual, so that they had the best view of the waiters as possible. At that moment, as if luck was on their side for a change, the purple-haired girl from yesterday walked in.

“Hey there Touka!” Kaneki called out.

‘ _So her name was Touka. How could he have forgotten?_ ’ Suzuya thought.

“Any news today?” Touka asked, ignoring the customers in favour of talking to Kaneki. The dark-haired waiter shook his head.

“Hinami was in earlier though. We did some more reading. She’s getting really good now.”

“As is expected, she’s a smart little girl.” Touka said, with a hint of pride.

Juuzou couldn’t see any visible injuries on the girl, but maybe she just got lucky last night and avoided any scrapes. Also, he noted, she seemed to have a soft side, compared with the coldness she had shown both times he had seen her. But perhaps only when it came to the girl they had been talking about, Hinami.

“Oh, you’re back. Huh.” Touka stated, as though just noticing the odd pair that were currently occupying a table near to them.

Amon looked up and nodded at her. Suzuya smiled, feeling a couple of his stitches becoming strained. The investigators shared a quick look. Everything seemed okay so far. Well, there was bound to be plenty of young girls with hair like that in Tokyo. And that hair might have just been another wig, though Suzuya doubted that. Why would anyone go to the bother of wearing two wigs?

Amon coughed into his hand. “Juuzou, it was about time we were off then, don’t you think?”

Juuzou caught on and finished his juice with one last slurp. “Okay then.” He gathered up his things and watched as Amon fixed his briefcase.

“See you later!” Suzuya called from over his shoulder. Kaneki and Touka both looked up from where they had been talking quietly. A serious look slipped off of Kaneki’s face and was replaced with a grin.

“Come again soon! And I’ll have an apple juice waiting!”


	4. Why is Suzuya eating pancakes?

It was three in the morning, and Juuzou was still awake. He wasn’t sure if it was that he couldn’t or wouldn’t go to sleep at this point, but he didn’t really care anymore. All around him, papers were spread out, with coloured strings linking them together. To any normal person, these piles of paper would look as though they were pulled together completely at random, but to Suzuya, it all just made sense.

“Well, I’m not going to get anything else done now.” He remarked to no one in particular. His apartment was empty, but it felt nice to hear a human voice every once in a while.

He got up from the floor and carefully stepped over his piles of paper. Nobody had even noticed him taking the files, and Suzuya laughed at that. Everyone up at the CCG liked to think that they were so smart, and most of them looked down on him. And they couldn’t even keep track of some stupid files!

“Now it’s pancake time!” he said, again to the emptiness of the flat. 

He made his way over to the small kitchen area and brought out the appropriate tools. He set to work, humming away. There truly was no better time for making sugary treats than when everyone else was sleeping.

“So, Darwin, what do you think?” Suzuya asked, turning around to face the glass bowl on his shelf. Darwin the fish just stared blankly at him. Suzuya giggled. “Yup, I know. I’ll stop talking now.”

With a small pile of pancakes in tow, Suzuya headed back to the couch-bed. His mama had taught him how to make them, and even though ghouls couldn’t eat human food, she had, on occasion, made these as a treat for him for being a good little girl.

He sighed contentedly as he bit into one. Memories came flooding back. They weren’t bad memories, as one would think, but neutral memories; ones that caused no distress at all. Honestly, he had forgotten a great deal of his time before and with mama. He knew that he had been what people considered ‘normal’ at one stage in his life, or at least that’s what his file said. When the CCG had found him, he had been a wreck and unable to be near other people. But with a little help and kind words, he grew more and more confident. Some of the damage his mama did was simply irreparable – he would never be able to father children and his pain tolerance levels were far too high for his own safety. Other agents had been worried that he would get seriously injured on the field and not even notice, but Suzuya being himself had just brushed it off, insisting that he would be alright and that he didn’t fear death. That had certainly spooked his carers.

Juuzou polished off his pancakes and put away the plate. He looked up at the clock. Noticing that he had wasted an entire hour, he decided that it was time to sleep. He brushed his teeth and then sprinkled some fish flakes into the bowl for Darwin.

Darwin was a good companion; he couldn’t speak and therefore he was perfect. Juuzou adored him, and once a few of the other agents had found out about the fish and Suzuya’s affections towards it, they relaxed a little whilst around the white haired boy. It proved that he wasn’t entirely the heartless killer that they feared.

Suzuya got comfortable on the couch that he called his bed and settled down for the night, waiting to be called in for the investigation again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter only has Juuzou in it this time. I've also just been adding little quirks and stuff to him, because I don't think that he was very well looked into in both the anime and manga. I just think he's great!
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading and for the kudos! Maybe I'll update faster next time? Hopefully.


	5. Getting to know your ghoul

The first thing Kaneki noticed when the door opened was that Juuzou Suzuya was alone. Usually the eccentric young man was partnered with his tall co-worker, but the man was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey there! Apple juice?” Kaneki asked with a smile, no longer bothering with formalities. If anything, being formal made them both a little uncomfortable.

“Yeah, please.”

“Coming right up!” Kaneki grinned at his new friend and then set about making the drink. “So, what’s wrong with Mr Tall and Scary today?” he asked.

“Amon? He’s at home, I think. I don’t know, I just wanted some juice really.”

“Huh, it’s just weird seeing you alone.” Kaneki held out a cup. “Here you go!”

Juuzou made his way over to his usual table and sat down. It felt weird to him being here on his own too. He couldn’t even talk to himself because he was told that it was frowned upon to do so.

“Hey, do you mind if I join you?”

Juuzou looked up. The young waiter was standing over him, grinning from ear to ear. “It’s just that the café’s empty and-“

“Yes, please sit with me! It was kinda lonely.”

Kaneki sat down and put a cup of coffee on the table. Juuzou wrinkled up his nose. “How the hell can you drink that? It tastes like mud!” he exclaimed.

Kaneki only smiled and took a slurp. “You grow used to it.” He paused, “Anyway, I don’t know much about you, so, how’s life?”

Suzuya looked slightly puzzled, but answered after a brief pause. “Eh, it’s good. I get up, feed fish and then come here.”

“What’s your fish called?”

“Darwin. Now, what’s YOUR life like?” he asked a little loudly.

“Pretty boring. I work here a lot, but it’s good. I help my sister with her reading sometimes, and we both enjoy that. Why is your fish called Darwin?”

“I think I read it in a book somewhere. I don’t know why though. Wasn’t Darwin a scientist?”

Kaneki simply shrugged. “Should probably know that, but I don’t” He sipped his disgustingly bitter coffee. “What is your job exactly? I always see you come in with that tall guy and you both have briefcases. But you’re not dressed particularly smartly. So I’m confused.”

Suzuya laughed loudly. “If I told you, I would have to kill you.” He whispered, suddenly quiet. Then he started laughing again.

“Are you a hit man or something? Do you have guns in your cases?” Kaneki asked with eyes wide and full of fear.

“No, don’t worry, nothing as gruesome as that.” He chuckled. It probably was just as gruesome, or maybe even more so. Ghoul investigators had been known to completely hack their enemies to pieces, and whilst Suzuya was no exception, he did find it all a little barbaric.

“Oh thank goodness.” The relief was visible on Kaneki’s face. “I think I’ll just let it go. At least, for now.” He smiled.

“What do you do when you’re not at work then?” Suzuya asked, in an unusual attempt at being sociable.

“Nothing much. I do like reading though.”

“Me too! Most people seem to assume that I’m illiterate or something, but I do love it!”

“Who have you read?”

“One of my colleagues gave me a book called _Monochrome Rainbow_ and I thought it was pretty good I can't remember the author though.”

“Oh my, you’ve read Takatsuki too? Have you read _Dear Kafka_ yet? It’s beautifully written! It’s so poetic and captivating! Oh, sorry, I just am really enthusiastic about books.” Kaneki finished sheepishly, realizing that his friend looked a bit scared.

“No, I’ve not really read much of her works. I just read what gets given to me. But I think I’ll try to read it then.”

“I’ve got it upstairs; you’ve got to borrow it! I’ll go and get it.” Suzuya watched as his companion ran away through a door. Kaneki seemed lovely, but he couldn’t be sure yet. Suzuya opted to have a drink of his juice rather than ponder on whether Kaneki was an enemy or not.

“Here you go!” Kaneki said. “You won’t be able to put it down.” Kaneki held out a book to him, his face slightly flushed from running up and down the stairs.

“Thanks! I might read it tonight. Or I could read it to my fish!” Suzuya’s phoned buzzed, startling the pair. He glanced down at it and then stood up suddenly. “I’ve got to go. Sorry, but thanks!” he said, grabbing his cup and Kaneki’s book. He ran out of the door, leaving a befuddled Kaneki behind.

 

-

 

As soon as Suzuya had left the vicinity of the cafe, he pulled out his phone and set about calling Amon back.

"WHAT IS IT?" Juuzou shouted, not caring about the fact that he was in public.

"Calm down. Anyway, do you remember that ghoul we killed a couple of weeks ago? The one with the young child."

Suzuya made a noise of affirmation.

"Good, good. Well, as you know, the child got away, but we got information from an anonymous source that she is still around in the area. Or at least she's still in Tokyo." Amon said.

"You called to tell me that? It's my only day off!" Suzuya whined.

"Since when do you care about your days off? We practically have to drag you away from the office."

"I'll have you know that I was out socialising. Like my doctors said would be good for me. And you interrupted me."

"Sorry, I just wanted you to know. We'll be resuming our search for the child soon though." Amon paused for a moment, "Who were you out with anyway?"

"Kaneki. He gave me a book to read."

"You're back at the cafe then? And why did he give you a book?"

"Obviously I'm at the cafe. I don't know his address and besides, he can't make Apple juice at home. And we both like reading, so he gave me the book."

"Not knowing someone's address has never stopped you from breaking and entering before."

"Is that all you called for? 'Cause I've got a hot date with a glass of apple juice and you're holding me back."

"Oh my, what has happened to you Juuzou? You were so innocent." Amon teased gently before handing up.

"Good." Suzuya said to an empty street. He really ought to stop talking to empty places. He turned around and went back to the cafe, feeling a little disappointed that Kaneki had moved from his chair.

"Oh, you're back! We've not had any more customers since you left." Kaneki said, returning from wherever he had disappeared to.

"Yeah, it was just Amon telling me something stupid. But I'm back now."

Kaneki sat back down and Suzuya followed suit.

"So, where we're we?"

"You gave me this book and I ran away."

"Yeah, so-"

Kaneki was cut off by another person entering the room.

"Kaneki, you aren't getting paid to sit with the customers. Leave the poor boy alone." Touka said, entering the cafe.

"Hey, I'm nineteen! I'm basically an adult!" Suzuya told her.

"Okay then, leave the big man adult alone."

"Sorry Touka, but there weren't any customers around, and he said it was okay."

"Yup, Kaneki's my friend now." Suzuya butted in.

"Uh, whatever, if you're not busy, you can mind the cafe then. I'm going upstairs."

Touka turned around again and headed up the stairs, stomping as she went.

"Wow, she's really mean." Suzuya whispered.

Kaneki laughed at that. "She's tough but lovely."

"Hey, since you asked me this last time, are you two dating?"

Kaneki flushed bright red. "No way, she's basically like a sister to me. That's pretty wrong."

"Okay then. You have a real sister, don't you?"

"Yes, I said that before, didn't I? She's my little sister, Hinami, and she's super clever!"

Kaneki's eyes lit up as he talked about Hinami, and Suzuya thought it was kind of sweet.

"Do you not live with your parents?"

Kaneki stopped. "No, dad left and my mother died. But I'm fine on my own."

"I'm sorry. I know what it's like."

Suzuya was being strangely serious, so Kaneki decided to pursue it further.

"You do?"

"Yeah, I never knew my real parents and I've been under the care of the government ever since I can remember." It technically was the truth, just twisted a little, so as to not give too much away.

"God, that sounds awful."

Suzuya nodded. "We've gotten so depressing."

"I guess we have."

Suzuya looked at Kaneki for a moment, and then kissed him quickly. He pulled away almost as soon as he had started it and was flushed all the way up to his ears.

"I'm really sorry!" Suzuya squeaked, before getting up and moving towards the door. "Sorry!"

And for the second time that day, Suzuya had ran out of the cafe, leaving Kaneki all alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter was terrible. But I tried, so, oh well. Hope you enjoyed it though!


	6. Well, that somehow worked

After running to his flat, Suzuya was finding it hard to breathe. "I am an idiot. I'm a fucking idiot." he repeated almost as a mantra to himself.

After reaching his flat, he got in and slammed the door. He knew that he was acting stupidly, but it certainly didn't stop him from continuing. "Hey Darwin, what to hear how badly I fucked up today?" The fish continued with its blank stare and Suzuya laughed.

"I kissed Kaneki. And I didn't even ask! I'm an awful person! And I'm never getting apple juice again!" he whined.

Again, the fish looked at Suzuya with dead eyes. Fish made for awful company. What was Amon even thinking? Suggesting that he buy a fish to ease off the loneliness. 

Suzuya replayed the moment over and over again in his mind, each time, the situation seeming worse than it actually was. He looked around his apartment before his eyes finally settled on his phone. Without really thinking, he got up and called one of two numbers saved onto the device.

"Amon?" he asked.

"What's wrong, Juuzou?"

"Why do you always assume that something's wrong?"

"Because you never actually call anyone. You always let us call you."

"So I do. And I guess you're right, I kinda did something stupid at the cafe."

"You didn't tell anyone, right?" Amon whispered into the phone.

"No, I'm stupid but not that stupid. It's sort of a thing I did rather than said."

"Oh Jesus Christ, what the hell did you do?"

Suzuya muttered something incomprehensible into the phone, being unusually quiet.

"What was that? Do I have a bad connection or is it you?"

"It was me. And the thing I did, well, I kinda kissed Kaneki."

"WHAT? Well, I thought that you had maybe killed the poor boy or something. I have never been so relieved."

Suzuya was a little surprised at Amon's reaction. "You're not mad? I mean, I kissed a person who's under investigation, and a male person at that."

"Eh, you can kiss whoever you like. I honestly don't care. I'm not your mother. And he's hardly a suspect, a person like him could be a ghoul, but he's pretty nice."

Suzuya held the phone out and away from his ear. Reassurance from his senior. What a good day this turned out to be. Except for the part where he ran out of the cafe. That was bloody stupid.

"Anyway, is that all you called for?" Amon asked.

"Yes."

"God, you're like a teenage girl. Goodbye, I'll see you at work tomorrow. Be there on time."

Amon hung up the phone and left Suzuya alone in silence. Well, he certainly felt a bit better than he did before, so maybe now was the right time to go back to the cafe. He pulled a bronze watch on a chain out of his pocket and looked at the time. He still had about three hours until the cafe closed.

Suzuya still hadn't moved from his position, but decided that he would indeed go. He stood up and stretched out his legs. "I'm going out again. Wish me luck!" he told his fish. He made his way towards the door and left.

................................

He pushed the cafe door open and listened to the familiar tinkle of the bells that hung over his head. The cafe was still pretty quiet, but there were a couple of patrons dotted around the room. 

The first thing he noticed was that Kaneki was not the one serving. Instead it was the tall, red haired man from his first time there.

"Hello, welcome to Anteiku, how can I help you?" the man asked in a not entirely enthusiastic voice. 

"One apple juice please."

As the man prepared his drink, Suzuya looked around. Upon seeing no signs of the dark haired waiter, he decided to ask the current server.

"Is Kaneki still working here?"

The tall man turned around and narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"Because I've got something important to tell him."

"Can't be that important, can it?"

"It's pretty important."

"Then just tell me, I know Kaneki pretty well."

"No, I have to do it myself." Suzuya internally cringed at his choice of words - how much more romance movie cliche could he get?

"Ugh, fine. He's upstairs. I'll go call on him."

The tall man went towards a door and called for Kaneki to come down. A few moments later and footsteps were heard coming down the stairs.

"Nishiki, what do yo-" Kaneki stopped when he saw the small person on the other side of the counter.

"Err, hi again." Suzuya said awkwardly.

"Yeah, erm, hello, nice to see you came back."

"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to."

"Whoa, I feel like I'm missing out on something good here." the tall man butted in.

"Hey, stop it Nishiki. I always go away when you tell me to."

"But you didn't even tell me-" Nishiki was cut off by Kaneki's one-eyed glare. "Fine, whatever, I'm gone."

"So, what did you want?"

"To say that I'm still sorry for doing what I did. And also to get juice, but mostly just the first thing."

"Well, you're forgiven. And there was nothing to forgive in the first place." Kaneki said, before lowering his voice a little. "I really didn't mind, in fact, I think I sort of liked it."

That statement left both boys completely flushed red.

"Wow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update! I'm just procrastinating now and this chapter happened, but anyway, who cares? Thank you so, so, so much for all the awesome comments and the kudos. I feel so popular.
> 
> Also, if you feel the desire to come talk to me or anything, come visit me on tumblr at http://thepianodoesntknowshit.tumblr.com/


	7. New partner in crime

"I'm here, I'm queer and look Amon, I'm on time!"

Amon didn't even look up, not bothering to acknowledge Suzuya's ridiculousness. 

"Yes, Juuzou, I can see that you're here. And it seems you're over the situation from yesterday." He teased, "Also, you got here just on time. Come and meet your new partner."

Amon stood up and took Juuzou to another room just past his own office. "I have a feeling that you two will enjoy working with each other." Amon left the room with a small smile on his face, which was pretty unusual considering he was, well, Amon.

"Huh? Who are yo- SHINOHARA! We're working together?" Juuzou cried out.

The taller investigator chuckled. "Yeah, you're stuck with me now, kid. I'm glad to see you're getting better!"

When Juuzou had first been taken in, he hadn't been close to anyone in particular who made an attempt to care for him. Except for Shinohara. The kind man had spoken gently and yet didn't talk down to him as many of the other investigators had. Juuzou was always going to be a rather distant person, but he did efficiently feel some form of affection towards this man.

"Do we have a mission yet or anything?"

"I did only just get back. So not yet. But you and I do have the pleasure of sorting through paperwork!"

Juuzou groaned. "Why can't someone else do it? We should be out getting rid of ghouls, not slowly killing forests with the ridiculous amounts of paper they give us."

"I know, but I think they just want to take it easy on me. I know I wasn't ill or anything, but I do need to get back into the swing of things."

"Oh yeah, how is your small human?"

"Small human? Suzuya, are you always going to be this awkward? Moriko's fine, she's spending time with her mother just now, so she's in good hands."

"It's so strange that you've got an actual child now."

"I know, all of the other investigators are like my children, but don't worry, I won't just forget about you!"

Suzuya knew than Shinohara was only teasing, but he did like to think of him as a substitute father of sorts.

"Well, shall we get down to business then?" Shinohara asked, producing a large folder from his bag.

"Urghhh."

......................

Some time later, Suzuya was ready to staple his own face. They have been sorting, stapling and cutting up things for at least seven hours.

"Can we have a break now." Juuzou whined.

"We have gotten through an awful lot, so I don't see why not! Actually, I guess you could just go home now." He looked at his watch. "Yeah, it's almost 5, so just go now. I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Hooray! I'll see you too. As long as you burn the rest of those papers." Suzuya said bitterly.

"Will do!"

......................

"Hmm, where to go?" Suzuya thought aloud, debating whether or not to go visit Kaneki or buy a new box of pens. He really should stop stealing Amon's, but it was fun just taking them.

......................

"I'm back!" he called out to the mostly empty cafe.

"So you are, how can I help you today, sir?"

"I'd like your finest beverage please." Suzuya said, putting on a ridiculous accent.

"Okay, stop! I'll get the apple juice." Kaneki said, chuckling.

"Will you sit with me again?"

"Oh, I don't know, don't you think the other customers will get jealous?" he asked.

Suzuya looked around and frowned. "You can go sit with that old man if you like, but then look at all you're missing out on!" Suzuya said, gesturing to himself.

"Okay then, I think I'll pass on that guy over there."

They both looked around to see an old-looking man completely asleep over his table.

"How rude, I made that tea just for him and now it'll be cold." Kaneki grumbled.

"Well I won't sleep on the table if you come and sit with me."

"I already said I would."

"You did?"

"Oh, just come on."

The two of them took their usual seats by the door, where Suzuya had originally sat with Amon.

"What did happen to that tall guy then? He's not been in for ages."

"I got a new partner."

"For your evil hit man job?"

"Pretty much."

"You still won't tell me what your job is then?"

"Nope."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear, I did have a plot, but it kinda stopped. But it will be back. I do actually have plans for this fic.
> 
> Also, Shinohara has a child I've decided and yes, everyone's a bit OOC, but I tried.
> 
> Thank you very much for reading, and apologies for the shittiness (is that even a word?) of this chapter.


	8. Meeting the parents (sort of)

No day working with the CCG was ever your typical day at the office. Unless you were some poor intern or on paper duty, something exciting was usually going on. And this was why Suzuya was so restless.

"Oh, come on, we've got to go!"

"I think our investigations can wait." Shinohara said in a way not dissimilar to that which you would use if you were speaking to a young child.

"But Kaneki needs me to protect him from the big bad ghouls!" Suzuya whined, throwing himself over the arms of the chair he was currently occupying. He had come in to work early for this, and did not intend to spend his time inside the office.

"I'm almost done, you can see him in a moment." The older man said, rolling his eyes at his subordinate' s behaviour.

"Urgh."

"You do realise that I can make sure that you never get your own proper quinque." Shinohara said with a sly grin.

"YOU WOULDN'T!" Suzuya gasped.

"Don't test me."

And with that, Juuzou sat in his chair without complaint.

.............................

" Suzuya! And who's this?" Kaneki greeted the pair as they walked through the door.

"This is my new work, not life, partner Shinohara. And Shinohara, this is Kaneki, not my work partner, but someone who makes very good apple juice and is very nice."

"Ah, the famous Kaneki. I'll have to try some of that juice - two apple juices please." Shinohara said politely.

"Coming right up!"

When Kaneki turned around to prepare the drinks, Suzuya turned to his partner.

"Amon never tried the juice. Ever."

"Well, I thought that I might as well, given how you've sung it's praises."

"Huh."

Kaneki came back, with two cups of juice in tow.

"Here you go, enjoy!"

Kaneki smiled at the lair, and when Shinohara turned his back, he winked at the white haired boy. Suzuya tried not to blush.

"Are you going to say anything?" the man asked, looking curiously at Suzya.

Juuzou looked up at him. "What?"

"Were you day dreaming?"

"Must have been. Sorry. But this is good juice, isn't it?"

"Eh, I can't say that."

Suzuya looked as though someone has stabbed a kitten right in front of him.

"But you can have mine now." He continued.

The look of utter betrayal was slowly replaced by one of pure delight.

"Thank you, but you're still bad and have no taste" Suzuya said as he snatched the cup from Shinohara' s side of the table.

The younger boy began slurping obnoxiously, which earned him a disapproving look from his elder.

"So," Suzuya began in a whisper, "Ghouls."

 

"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear, I am a piece of shit. I'm sorry it took so long, but I had exams and then I was ill, so just in case anyone still reads this, I'm sorry, please forgive me.
> 
> (Also, I know it's a bad chapter, but hey!)


	9. What even are ghouls?

"Ghouls?" Shinohara whispered back, slightly confused.

"Yes, you seem to be more perceptive than Amon, what do you see?"

"Well, there's only that Kaneki guy on duty, so I can't really judge much. He seems too nice though, but I guess, looks can be deceiving."

"You bet!" Suzuya said with a wink.

Shinohara looked at his subordinate with a strange mix of shock and shame.

"Now, now Juuzou, I know for a fact that you've done nothing to defile that poor boy yet."

"How would you know that?" he asked, feeling slightly put out.

"I know you, and have known you since you first came into our care. And I know that you do not want that stuff." Shinohara was being vague, and it annoyed Suzuya.

"Hmmph."

"We need to get back on topic."

The pair both looked to where Kaneki was standing. He was wiping the counter absentmindedly, and when he felt their eyes on him, he turned and smiled brightly.

"We actually think he's a ghoul?"

"Well, you remember that little girl ghoul?" Shinohara asked. "Bet nobody would've suspected a thing if we'd just seen her walking in the streets."

"But she was born like that - wait, what if Kaneki WAS born like that, it wouldn't be his fault, and he is so lovely!"

"Juuzou, I never thought I'd have to say this to you, but you can't let your feelings get in the way of work. Not in our business. That kind of stuff will get you killed. Or worse."

Suzuya shuddered at the thought. Imagine being some ghoul' s pet again. And now he was thinking about his mama. Great.

"And remember, as far as we know, all ghouls were born like that. And we still kill them." Shinohara continued.

"Then shouldn't we help them?"

"I honestly never thought I'd see the day when you were both infatuated with someone and in ownership of a fine set of morals. But I'm proud of you. And I'm sorry, but we can't just let them loose in the city. Tokyo would be devastated. And then they would spread to the other regions. And the we would have a worldwide crisis on our hands."

Suzuya nodded serenely. It was easy to kill without actually thinking who you were killing and for what reasons. The CCG just armed him and let him loose. He was never taught about ghouls. Not really. And what if someone where to kill Kaneki? That would be unjust. Even if he did turn out to be a ghoul, would he deserve it?

Juuzou Sat and slurred at his two cups of juice. "Yeah, I get it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry. I took ages to update, it's a small chapter and not much Kaneki. But I'm tired as hell and need a break. So hopefully I'll update again in the next week and it will be a more quality chapter. (Although I feel as though the story has been dragging on). More action to cone!
> 
> Feel free to come and complain/ talk to me on my tumblr page, which is queer-monkeys. I freaking love talking to people!


	10. Father and son time

Well, Suzuya's day was going well. Not really, but he decided to just grin and bear it. The thought of ghouls being actual living beings upset him - they can't help how they were made, just as much a Suzuya himself was not to blame for what happened to him. 

Juuzou had gotten about as much sleep as a rock might have, which is none, because rocks can't sleep. Poor rocks, they probably would want to sleep, if they could.

He had stayed up all night pondering the ethics of his job. He didn't know anything else, so what could he do? He could always ask Kaneki for a place at the cafe. Suzuya imagined himself in an apron, serving customers, and smiled. That was ridiculous! Well, it could be fun. Kaneki would be there, so that cancelled out having to wear a uniform, he supposed.

"Good morning, ready for more investigating?"

"Not now, please, no." Suzuya said, dismissing Shinohara with a wave of his hand.

"You do realise that you're not the boss, that I am your superior?" the taller man said, looking down at his subordinate with amusement. "What's with all this anyway, you know I'm always here for you if you need to vent."

"I just didn't sleep very well, actually, I didn't sleep at all."

Shinohara looked at him with surprise. "Why?"

"Well, you know how we were talking yesterday about ghouls and stuff." Suzuya trailed off.

"Yes, we do talk about ghouls a lot, but we did also talk about them yesterday."

"Hey, stop that!" Juuzou frowned. "I mean, they can't help being who they are. And what if every single person in that cafe is a ghoul. So what? They've done nothing!"

"So we're still on this then." He sighed. "They can't help what they do, but what they do hurts us. Badly. Imagine if your family was eaten by a ghoul!"

"What family? And I don't care. They hurt us, and we hurt them even worse. It's awful really."

"I know you don't have a family, but you do have us. What if something happened to Amon? Marude? Me, even?"

"Those other two can go and die for all I care. But you can't ask something like that and expect an answer when the person in question is right there."

"Fine then, what about Kaneki?"

"We're getting off task here. I'm just bothered. And probably bored. I need to get out into the field!"

"Not right now, you're not. You can have a break. You deserve it. Plus, you won't be much use if you decide to hug it out with a ghoul in the middle of a fight!"

"You may think I'm getting soft, but I still have my knives." Suzuya laughed, patting his jacket to confirm where they were all hidden. "And there's one in my trousers!"

"Eww, you're disgusting!"

"You've known me for, like, ten years. Get over it!"

"So you'll just dip into your trousers in the middle of a fight, and pull out a knife?"

"Yup."

"How the hell did you pass the test?"

"Sheer willpower, my friend."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, thank you all for sticking through this. I've not updated this for ages and feel very bad, I am sorry. I forget that you are all actual people that read this. Unless you're all robots. Which is pretty cool actually. I hope at least one of you is a robot.
> 
> Sorry I took so long, but you know, exams and stuff. Not fun. I know what I'd rather be doing, but sadly universities don't accept shitty fanfiction as a qualification. It's sad really. They're missing out.


	11. Why, Nishiki? Why?

"So, I have a break!"

Kaneki looked up. "You do?"

"Yeah, I was getting weird apparently."

"You, weird? As if!" Kaneki laughed. "What did you want?"

"To spend time with you. And you know what else."

"I've got you!" He laughed again. "I made it earlier, so you wouldn't have to wait."

"Are you an angel?" Suzuya said, eyes wide and voice full of awe."

"I wouldn't say that!"

"Oh really?" Suzuya leaned over and grabbed Kaneki's waistcoat. "You made apple juice for me in advance. Nobody's ever done that before!"

The white haired boy quickly put his lips on Kaneki's and then pulled away.

"If that's all I need to do for a kiss, then I guess I'll just keep cups of the stuff lying around!"

Suzuya took this as an opportunity and kissed him again. "You know, I like this."

"Me too, hey, the cafe's empty."

"So it is! Whatever shall we do?"

This time, Kaneki pulled Suzuya in by his suspenders.

"Oh my god, that's disgusting!"

The two boys stopped and turned to the door.

"Nishiki! Why?!"

"Why did you need to do that? Over my clean work surface as well!"

The tall man looked at them both. "Good thing no one ever comes here."

Both boys were silent.

"Anyway, I thought you had a thing for some girl. That weird one."

"You realise that that was months ago."

"Yeah, but that guy's a guy. That girl was not."

Suzuya, tired of being ignored, butted in. "Okay, let's stop questioning Kaneki's sexuality. It only matters to you if you plan on sleeping with him." He said calmly.

Nishiki spluttered. "I have a girlfriend, thank you very much. I was just asking."

"Now that that's cleared up, you can go. I think the bird needs more food." Kaneki said.

Nishio shuddered. "That thing hates me."

"We've all got to do unpleasant jobs."

"You're making out with customers in our cafe! How is that unpleasant."

"You can join us, if you want to?" Suzuya added, smiling creepily.

Nishio almost sprinted up the stairs.

"I hope you weren't being serious there." Kaneki said, turning back to face Suzuya.

"Nah, I just wanted him gone."

"Fair enough. Good job, by the way, very efficient!"

Suzuya took a small bow. "All part of the job."

"So, you're a government spy, who gets rid of people by proposing threesomes?"

"Obviously!"

"Why do I even talk to you?" Kaneki asked.

"It's because I'm so damn good looking!"

"Sure, sure!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear, I got carried away slightly. Sorry for this chapter, it looks like a script, and that's awful. But hey! It's fun, I hope?
> 
> Also, I'm so pleased. There are now about 80 fics with Suzuya in them! When I started writing this, there were 4. It was a dark time.


	12. Not actually a chapter, but a request of sorts??

Again, this isn't a chapter. I don't know if anyone still reads this? Do you? Anyway, I haven't watched/ read any Tokyo Ghoul in about two years maybe, and so, would anyone be willing to give me the main points of what's been happening so that this story can possibly be finished? I'd love to finish it, and I feel like I'm coping with university stuff, so I could do this now! Again, I don't know if anyone will ever read this, but hey, it's here! (Also, hi, my name's Ciaran, and it feels weird not knowing who people are, you should totally introduce yourselves!) ((You don't have to! I'm just an over-friendly person!))


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